Netanhayu and the White House announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump will make an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House as the first international head to travel to Trump’s next term.
The announcement came as Israel and Hamas were under increased pressure from the US to maintain a stalemate that had put an end to a disastrous 15-month conflict in Gaza. Discussions about the ceasefire’s more challenging second step, which aims to end the war, start next Monday.
The White House email shared by Netanyahu’s business, dated Tuesday, said” I look forward to discussing how we can bring harmony to Israel and its companions, and attempts to store our shared enemies”.
Under pressure at home, Netanyahu has a chance to show the world how much Trump has supported him over the years and defend Israel’s handling of the battle. Last year, the two people met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago house.
Netanyahu is likely to inspire Trump not to stop some weapons shipments the way the Biden administration did, even though Israel continues to provide other deliveries and general military support. Israel receives the bulk of US military aid.
Netanyahu furthermore wants Trump to intensify his efforts to broker a historic normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the most powerful nation in the Arab world, and force Iran on Iran.
Trump was already preparing to take business this month by sending his exclusive Middle Eastern minister, Steve Witkoff, to the area to press impreuna with the Biden administration to end the current Gaza ceasefire.
However, Netanyahu has pledged to keep the conflict if Hamas refuses to fulfill his needs in the second phase of ceasefire discussions, which would cover a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a” sustainable calm.”
Over 375, 000 returning to north Gaza Under the deal, more than 375, 000 Palestinians have crossed into northwestern Gaza since Israel allowed their return on Monday morning, the United Nations said Tuesday. More than a fourth of the a million people fled during the first days of the war.
Many of the Palestinians who were trudging along a seaside road or cross in vehicles after safety inspections were getting their first glimpse of the shattered north Gaza under the tense ceasefire, which is now in its second month.
Trump this week suggested that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from Gaza, at least partially, but that” we only clean out that entire thing”- which Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians hastily rejected, fearing Israel would not allow a return.
Otherwise, Palestinians were determined to erect temporary tents or places to sleep outside amid the densely stacked blocks of deteriorating or dangerously leaning structures. They would eventually become back home after months of crowding in Gaza’s south, which included past schools or dirty tent camps.
As she prepared to depart from Khan Younis, south of the country, Fayza al-Nahal said,” It’s also better for us to dwell on our property than to reside on a property that’s not it.”
At least two Palestinians sailed north by water, crowding into a boat with their bikes and other items.
Hani Al-Shanti, displaced from Gaza City, looked forward to feeling at harmony in whatever he found, “even if it is a roof and walls without equipment, even if it is without a roof”. One recently returned lady had her home’s walls completely destroyed, and she hung cleaning there.
Next ways Under the peace, the next discharge of hostages held in Gaza, and Israeli prisoners from Israeli prison, is set to appear on Thursday, followed by another trade on Saturday.
In the ceasefire’s six-week first stage, a total of 33 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that ignited the war may be released, along with about 2, 000 Arab prisoners.
Israel this year reported that a listing provided by Hamas confirmed the suspicions that eight of the 33 hostages who were freed were dead, adding new grief to Jewish families who have huge pressed the government to agree to send everyone home before the clock runs out.
One of the first hostages to be freed under the current ceasefire on Tuesday shared a glimpse of life in captivity. This is just the second hostage to be released.
Naama Levy, age 20, claimed on social media that she spent the majority of her first 50 days alone before being reunited with other soldiers taken from her military base on October 7 and other civilians held captive.
” We strengthened each other until the day of our release, and also afterwards”, she wrote.
Under the ceasefire, humanitarian aid flown in Gaza soared.
” In this past week alone, approximately 4, 200 trucks carrying aid have entered the Gaza Strip following inspections”, said Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.
Under the deal, 600 trucks of aid are meant to enter per day.
While both sides have raised complaints, the Qatari government said on Tuesday that no confirmed ceasefire violations have occurred that could have led to the collapse of the agreement.
The ceasefire aims to end the most bloody and destructive conflict between Israel and Hamas ever. Militants killed some 1, 200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 assault and abducted another 250.
Israel responded with an air and ground offensive that has killed over 47, 000 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17, 000 militants, without providing evidence.
